Friday, July 29, 2005

Have you ever listened to a song and had no idea what was being said, and you didn't even care? Well, I do this every day on my iPod as I've purchased a large selection of jpop, jrock, anime/game music over the years. Sometimes I get weird looks, but for those of you who have ever imported a fansub, or watched the intro to a dubbed anime you know what I'm talking about.

The ending to Final Fantasy X broke my heart, it moved me not just because I spent over 80 hours living as Tidus and gang, but because the musical scores were so moving, they just swept me up in a whirlwind of emotion as my long journey with these characters was over. I bought the soundtrack and every time I listen to it I smile, it's a fond memory that I love to relive in my mind. This is the power of music in games, but it's not just limited to orchestral music but also to vocal, both in English and Japanese. A great example of this is the old intro to Lunar back on the Sega CD, man that song hooked me in, but was oh so hokey.

Guess what, it's the same with anime, and it was Cha-La with Dragon Ball Z and Evangelion that got me hooked. The intro, the ending, the in scene music just hooks you and never lets you go. Don't believe me, just watch Gundam SEED and tell me if you play a little T.M. Revolution in your head. I still get chills listening to The Touch by Stan Bush played when Optimus Prime rolled out of the shuttle and said 'Megatron must be stopped... no matter the cost' - that was freaking sweet and made even better by the music. What I'm getting at is when you play a game or watch an anime don't ignore the music, embrace it and let it move you, draw you deeper into the experience. Let's take it a step further, let AOL Radio help you with this.

Check this out, AOL Radio it out there on the web now, anyone can listen. There are some exclusive stations that you have to sign in for, but for most you can't beat what there is to offer and I say this based on what I just typed above. An anime song station is not out of the question, and I would love to hear what you love, what you would like to see on a station, let me know, butin the meantime check out this goodness...

Monday, July 18, 2005

'Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel' was the debut of the Elric brothers on the PS2 over here in the US and soon we will get to play 'Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir' Seeing FMA 2 in action was nice, and I did get some play time with it. Having read the manga and seen the anime it's great to sit and play as one of my new favorite anime characters, Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist. I was very excited to see so much FMA at Comic-con from every angle including toys, statues, games, a tcg and DVD's. Sadly I did not see any cos-players, but why would you need them with a giant Al statue.

FMA was everywhere and I was everywhere that FMA was. It all begins with the manga published by Viz, read a preview here. You really get to know the character on a level that games and anime cannot relay, and Viz is uppping the ante with the release of 'Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand' part of a new fiction line by Viz. The anime takes the story a step further, with minor changes, and gives voice and life to the series as you get to hear for the first time what Ed and Al sound like and see their alchemy in action. By this point you've read the manga, seen the anime and now your ready to take control of the characters you've grown to love in the Square Enix released games.

This flow is very normal for an anime licenced product moving from manga to anime to video game. Add to this the new TGC (trading card game) coming out all the action figures and toys and you just get immersed in a land similar to our own, but oh so different. The coverage was amazing and I'm telling you from what I've seen this propery is only going to get hotter and hotter. Keep an eye out for it, and if you have a chance pick up the anime or manga then try out the game.